


Winter Messages

by sayitwithwords



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A bit of Magic, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Confessions, Established Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Haikyuu - Freeform, High School, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio Friendship, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, KageHina - Freeform, Kageyama & Hinata, Kageyama has been pining, Kageyama/Hinata - Freeform, Karasuno, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic, Magic Realism, Original Characters are just mentioned, Volleyball Friends, haikyuu!! - Freeform, hinata shouyou - Freeform, kageyama tobio - Freeform, nothing too fantasy-ish, so has Hinata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-27 00:32:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15674418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayitwithwords/pseuds/sayitwithwords
Summary: "Tobio, look." He glanced down and froze. "It's real."Right there on Shouyou's left hand, under the weak lantern's light, were two tiny glass bottles with crumpled papers inside. Dirty, wet and definitely old. Either that was a terrible coincidence, which he doubted, or the story was true and they had just found a piece of magic.





	Winter Messages

* * *

  
Some people liked to call the little town of Lakeround a winter wonderland. Not that it lost its shine on other seasons, but everything seemed special when snow fell upon the tall pine trees surrounding it. People seemed nicer, school was tolerable, and even tourists seemed to be charmed with the environment, specially if they spared some time to visit the lake. It was magnificent when covered in a thick layer of ice, more than it ever was in its natural state.  
  
Tobio hated winter, though. It was a fact that his family's business worked better when the town was covered in snow, just by the simple fact more people were around, but he hated to feel cold. He was an energetic teenager who liked to go around in shorts and a t-shirt, playing volleyball with the other kids from school, so it was unnerving that he had to give up his hobbies as soon as the first cold wind blew their roofs. And it had started again, just the day before.  
  
His mother got too happy with it and had started planning ways to make more money with her traditional pastries at the bakery; his grandmother, although absent from the bakery, went around telling everybody about Lakeround winters of when she was a school girl; and his best friend Shouyou, even though it had barely snowed yet, had blackmailed him into a meeting at the lake after midnight. Of course, he did not need much more to convince Tobio but the promise he'd ask his uncle to let them play volleyball at the local school's gym after classes.  
  
He exhaled through his parted lips, watching steam dance right in front of his nose before disappearing. At that point, Tobio could admit to himself that volleyball had to be more than a hobby and Shouyou more than a friend, otherwise he wouldn't be outside of his room during the first snow of the year. But there he was, trying not to slip while stomping down the cobbled stairs to the lake with the street lamps as the only source of light. Shouyou was already waving his short arms around at the lakeside, dressed in a puffy waterproof coat and a green scarf around his mouth. A huge old lantern stood by the side of his foot. Tobio didn't bother to wave back, looking down at his feet until he stopped right in front of Shouyou.  
  
"Good night, Tobio! Oh, it's snowing, isn't it great?"  
"Shut up." It was hard to explain why his fingers twitched in anticipation at the sound of Shouyou's hyped tone. He hated snow, and he wouldn't start liking it just because his tiny adorable best friend who jumped around for every reason was excited with it. "Why did you call me here? If my mom finds out I got out so late..."  
"It's fine!" Tobio frowned at Shouyou's stretched smile. He was sure it was not fine, and that Shouyou would prove that right with a weird idea in less than a minute. "I just found out about a local myth today and I wanted to investigate. I was scared of doing it alone, so I called you." And there it was.  
  
Tobio sunk his beanie further down his black hair and pulled the scarf up to his nose. His eyes were still glued to a hopeful Shouyou who had his own accessories carelessly thrown on him. His beanie was almost falling from his wild hair, and the fact he had pulled the scarf off to speak was causing red dots to form against his cheeks. With an annoyed growl and rosy cheeks hidden from view, Tobio fixed Shouyou's beanie himself.  
"Let's make it quick. I hate being outside when it's sno-" For the first time, Tobio noticed a monstrous shadow near the lake, to which he widened his eyes. "What the hell is that?" He grabbed Shouyou's lantern and walked in its direction, not waiting for his friend to follow.  
  
Extending his arm further, the light fell on a medium-sized dingy boat with nothing but two oars and a box inside. He sighed, a little bit calmer it was actually an inanimate and completely normal object instead of something creepy.  
"That's the boat we'll be using. Tobio, did you ever heard of the old man Luke's story?"  
Tobio allowed Shouyou to take the lantern from him and lead the way. Sometimes, he wondered why he did not question Shouyou's ideas before following him. They were at the lake after midnight, alone with an old boat, talking about a man who had died nine years ago. And as far as Tobio knew, there was no local myth related to the old fisherman Luke, only the information that he died of old age at his house near the west side of the lake. Before he could comment though, Shouyou proceeded.  
  
"Kei told Tetsurou who told me and Koutarou that the fisherman Luke had a wife and daughter once. His wife died with... a disease, I can't remember its name." Tobio rolled his eyes, trying to hide a smile behind the scarf. "And his daughter left town to have a better life. Luke started getting crazy after she was gone. She wouldn't visit, like, ever."  
"Is this going anywhere terrifying?"  
"Then one day, someone saw him throw a little bottle into the lake. When they asked what it was, he said he missed his daughter but he had no money to leave town, so he hoped the lake would deliver the message to her."  
"It'd have probably gotten stuck on a tree before it reached the ocean." Tobio shrugged at Shouyou's judgmental stare. "It's true."  
  
"That doesn't matter!" Shouyou whined and got in the boat, holding the lantern as high as he could so Tobio could see where he's stepping. He sat as comfortable as it was possible, grabbing the oars before Shouyou got the idea of doing it himself. Not that Tobio was particularly wishing to row, but he was certain they would not leave the sand if Shouyou did it. "Anyways - yes, you should row, thank you -, ever since he died, people who come to the lake for a swim have been finding bottles with strange messages inside, right behind those rocks. After three months, those messages happen, whether it's a good thing or not."  
Tobio refrained from answering at all, since sarcasm annoyed Shouyou in such a way it would only fuel his motive. That helped with volleyball. He would jump higher or receive all of Tobio's tosses with precision when provoked, but in that situation, it could get them in trouble.  
  
The silence absorbed their space, even Shouyou who rarely stopped rambling about every other thing seemed to not want to speak at all. Tobio took that chance to glance at his friend. His beanie was slipping back from his head again, allowing several meshes of carrot-y hair to peek out. They were absolute contrasts, inside and out. Tobio had black straight hair and wore his clothes ironed and spotless; Shouyou had a wild colorful mane and could go two days with the same t-shirt he'd grabbed from his drawer, without really looking twice. Tobio was focused and serious; Shouyou was easily distracted and a bunch of random happiness. They were best friends and no one, including them, knew exactly why. And Tobio was hopelessly infatuated with Shouyou, without really knowing why either. He wondered, though, if Shouyou had ever thought of him in a romantic sense. If he had ever even questioned what it would be like.  
"You're smiling and it's creepy." Tobio blinked away his thoughts and cleared his throat, a bit annoyed Shouyou caught him looking. "Should we stop here and climb?"  
  
"Can you not try to climb every climbable thing? Let's just look around." He ignored Shouyou's grumble as he knew the boy would obey and tried to drive the boat as near to the biggest rock as he could. Shouyou stood up as soon as the boat stopped, forcing Tobio to hold himself down to not fall. "Idiot! You're rocking the boat, stop it."  
"We have to stand up to peek at that side!"  
With a low growl, in which Tobio tried to contain all his anger, he stood up and balanced his weight the best he could. One look around was enough to send a cold shiver down his body. Not from cold, but from fear.  
  
He had swum in that lake multiple times since he was a kid. Summers were spent there with school friends, learning how to swim by themselves and improvising surf boards so they could try to stand on them. But in all those years, he had never been around after midnight, when it was dark and a lantern was not enough to light the way or erase the quietness of the water; or the secrets held by the cloudy sky. Besides one or two noises coming from nature, nothing could be heard but their irregular breathings. Tobio rarely felt scared, but there was something about how much that scenery reminded him of a horror movie that forced his heart to jump faster.  
"Okay, enough of this. Let's go back." He grabbed an oar and sat, but before he could row back, Shouyou leaned down. His tiny body seemed to be fighting to grab something, and Tobio's breath shortened with worry. "You're going to fall! Stop that!"  
  
Shouyou returned to his previous position with his dorky smile at display. Tobio gave him the angriest glare he could manage, but it did not seem to affect the smaller. With shaky movements, Tobio did not lose time and drove back to the lakeside.  
"You're crazy. You're absolutely crazy to drag me here in the middle of the night with freezing temperatures and try to scare me with such a stupid story. If you think-"  
"Tobio, look." He glanced down and froze. "It's real."  
Right there on Shouyou's left hand, under the weak lantern's light, were two tiny glass bottles with crumpled papers inside. Dirty, wet and definitely old. Either that was a terrible coincidence, which he doubted, or the story was true and they had just found a piece of magic. His mouth hung open, until a short laugh forced him to look up.  
  
"It's true, we found something unnatural. Let's open them as soon as we get to the lakeside."  
Tobio kept his words sealed, as he was afraid his voice would shake. Maybe Shouyou was so excited because he did not understand what the situation could mean, but Tobio was terrified. Did that mean they had a ghost in Lakeround? Was it a friendly one, or did it curse people? It seemed like a childish thought, but maybe it was something to consider. He glared at the bottles as if that act alone could give him answers. Shouyou just chuckled.  
As soon as they stepped on sand, Tobio made sure he walked two steps back, which seemed to amuse Shouyou. It was both annoying and calming to have someone who took the situation so lightly.  
  
"Relax, Tobio. They're just two tiny bottles, they're not gonna decide your faith. Here, take one."  
Tobio felt his fingers clench together when his best friend extended the dirtiest one in his direction. Yes, he could not deny he was curious, but he remembered Shouyou's explanation that whatever was written in it would definitely happen in three months, and as lucky as he was, it would probably be something bad. He gasped when the bottle was shoved against his glove and a pop came from the one Shouyou was holding.  
  
Tobio held the lantern up and watched as his friend let the cork fall and carefully unwrapped the paper. A mix of emotions swam through Shouyou's face. He was excited, turned confused and ended up surprised. Or shocked, Tobio was not really sure.  
"What does it say?" His question did not seem to reach his best friend's ears for a minute, as he kept staring at the paper. A hint of realization visited his eyes when he looked up at Tobio. "What does it say, Shouyou?"  
"Oh. Have you read yours?" Tobio still had his hands together, the bottle forgotten against them. It was obvious he wanted nothing to do with the object, but Shouyou insisted. "Come on, read it."  
  
Swallowing a big amount of air, he let the bottle slide to his left hand and grabbed the cork with the other. His fingers were sweating under the gloves but he tried to make every movement as quick as possible. The cork flew to the ground and the paper was pulled out and unwrapped.  
The first thing he felt was a light floral scent from the paper. He didn't know why, but it brought him sudden memories of himself playing with Shouyou, specially at a young age when they would run around town, searching for new places to toss and receive the ball. He didn't think about it often, only when Shouyou brought it up to tease him, so it was a bit surprising that a scent alone -- one that was foreign to him, no less -- could force them in. Trying to concentrate, he focused his attention to the text itself.  
_'... fits with his, and they'll meet soon.'_  
  
"What?" He squinted his eyes, feeling Shouyou's hands in each side of his arm as he tried to peek at the paper. "It says something weird, it's not even an entire sentence."  
"Oh." Shouyou muttered and clenched his hand around his paper. "Mine too."  
Tobio didn't need to ask before Shouyou showed it to him.   
_'Your soul piece...'_  
  
A warm feeling spread through Tobio's body at the realization their messages were one. And together, they formed delightful words that Tobio had only dreamed about. Maybe not dream, but he thought about it often. He'd imagined what it would be like if Shouyou felt the same way and they could be more than friends often.  
"So we're soulmates." He looked up at Shouyou who was staring with his cheeks red. "Hum, but it doesn't make sense... Does this mean, uh, we'll start ... dating three months from now, or something?"  
  
He didn't know if he'd wanted to answer too quickly or if the beat of his heart was flustering him too much, but he was suddenly coughing as he'd choked in nothing but the cold air of the night. He felt two arms grabbing his shoulders with all the intentions to help, but all Shouyou could do was laugh at his poor state.  
Tobio forced himself to sit, his jeans getting cold and humid almost immediately. He kept his eyes down so Shouyou couldn't tease him for blushing.  
"Ah, Tobio." Shouyou jumped down at his side. "A ghost just told us we're soulmates and you choked. I-" a breathless chuckle interrupted his words, but he recovered in less than a second. "Sorry. I understand if you don't want me to say stuff like that. Maybe we're friendly soulmates? Like, friends forever?"  
  
"Idiot."  
"I mean, you don't like me very much. Volleyball is like the only thing that works as a connection between us, but... Since it's out there, I might as well say I like you. A little bit."  
Maybe if Tobio had choked again, he wouldn't need to look up and face reality. But even he, a boy who struggled to describe emotions, needed to admit some things to himself and others, now and then.  
  
His eyes traveled from the forgotten bottles on the floor to Shouyou's face, slightly illuminated by the lantern. He was avoiding eye contact, but his face was as red as Tobio's, and his fingers were fidgeting in a way Tobio had only seen before matches. He was nervous. Tobio looked at the water.  
"You needed a ghost to help you confess." That was not what he meant to say but somehow, an _'I love you too'_ reached Shouyou.  
"At least it's a funny thing to tell people about us."  
  
Tobio was already biting his lip in order to hold his laugh when Shouyou giggled, shoving a cold hand against his cheek. The taller grunted, took his glove off and paid him back, causing them both to fall backwards. Two shouts filled the silence when their necks touched freezing sand, but it all transformed into laughs too quickly.  
"I think we ought to call fisherman Luke a matchmaker, rather than a ghost."  
"Idiot." Shouyou's head leaned against his shoulder and Tobio was sure he'd never smiled as wide in his life, and in winter of all seasons.  
  
Small magic bottles at their feet, they forgot all about the messages. It was only ten minutes later when they stood up hand in hand, that they noticed the papers were gone, like they had never been there to begin with.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in January of 2017, I made a couple of changes today and decided to finally publish it. It isn't perfect, but I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Consider leaving feedback or talking to me on tumblr, I'm @himedere-swaan!


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